Nazione
by Resha04
Summary: He first saw them in his family's funeral. He met Feliciano after the incident with Roberta Guelfi. He met Lovino after the Venice Incident. He met both of them after the New Turin Power Plant Incident. And when he met them again 10 years later, they hadn't changed at all. He'd grown and changed, but like frozen in time, they stayed the same.


**My first crossover fic. I don't know if the event in Gunslinger Girl universe really happened in the real life or not, so I apologize if there's any historical inaccuracies (I'm sure almost all of them). For the ones who don't read Gunslinger Girl, the explanation needed will be listed in the end.**

**I also apologize for so many grammar mistakes and the lack of vocabulary in here OTL.  
**

**I do not own Hetalia, and I do not own Gunslinger Girl. They belong to Hidekaz Harumiya and Aida Yu respectively.  
**

* * *

Jean Cloche first saw them in his family's funeral. Two young men, identical faces, similar eyes, almost same height, and he, despite the grief and anger and loathe, thought, _twins_.

One of them, a bit shorter in height, bowed his head down and let his hair obscured his eyes. The other one, sickly pale but stood firm, kept his gaze forward, his eyes following the coffins as they were lowered into the ground.

And the eldest Cloche sibling didn't pay them any more heed after that. Because as the coffin of Sophia, his beloved Sophia, was lowered into the ground, all he saw was red red red and revenge revenge revenge.

-o-

Two years. It had been two years and 56 Padania operatives.

It had been two years and Fernando had come back from his military service and became a left-wing movement's activist.

It had been two years but the silver ring on his ring finger stayed.

It had been two years without Sophia.

His cheek where Fernando had punched him was still throbbing in the morning breeze, furious and hate and _I'll get revenge for my sister_.

Wipeout. He was going to wipe them out until there was no one of the Padania left in the face of the earth.

His cellphone rang and he turned around to answer it, throwing a last glimpse to Sophia's tombstone before walking away.

He didn't notice there was one other bouquet of flowers beside his and Fernando's.

-o-

It was when prosecutor Roberta Guelfi had left that the young man came. Couldn't be more than 20, reddish brown hair and bright hazel golden eyes, a modest bouquet of flowers in his arms. The stranger spotted him and gave him a soft smile, which he returned with a nod. But as the stranger bowed down to place the bouquet on the monument along with the other ones, he couldn't help but think where he had seen this man.

He turned to leave but then the young man straightened up and said, voice soft and light in the wide Italian sky, "Are you prosecutor Cloche's relative?"

He paused, turning around to face the young man and nodded, wanting nothing more than to leave but for some reason the stranger before him had such a strange air that he couldn't help but to stay. "Yes."

The stranger's hazel eyes lowered slightly and a pained expression flashed across his face. "I'm truly sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." He didn't know how to answer even after all these years, remembering the first few months after the incident when people would recognize him and give him and his brother looks of pity and how much he hated it. But the stranger's tone held no pity, instead it was a genuine sympathy, and strangely, pain. Jean found himself thinking, just who was this young man?

"Mr. Giovanni was me and my brother's hero," Out of the blue, the young man said, his face softened into a wistful smile. "My brother never admitted it, but I know that he's actually very grateful to what Mr. Giovanni did. It meant a lot to both of us."

"I'm sure my father would be glad to hear that," He replied, formal and firm, though he couldn't help but to feel bitter about it. Even after his father's death, he couldn't bring himself to like the man who used to leave his family for work and once tried to make him a prosecutor like him despite his own thought.

_It's ironic,_ he thought. _That only when you're dead that you're claimed a hero._

"He had always been our hero, you know," As though reading his mind, the stranger before him chuckled softly. "Me and my brother watched him whenever he appeared in the TV and we read about him in newspapers. He always gave up the spirit we needed. I wished I could go and meet him in person, but my brother said we weren't allowed to."

_Why is that?_ He almost asked but held himself back in the last second. The stranger's smile looked like he didn't want to be asked about that of all things. But then Jean didn't know how to answer. Lacking emotions, it was what he was. He had gotten better when he met Sophia, softening and becoming more understanding.

But then she was gone.

The sun that had melted his ice of a heart had gone and now the ice had reformed.

Once again, as though understanding, the young man didn't demand for his answer. Instead, he continued speaking. "My brother wants to come too today, but he can't." He smiled apologetically. "He has works. That's why this bouquet is from both of us."

"I see…"

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Feliciano! What's yours, mister?" The stranger smiled again to him, this time brighter and happier, and his whole figure relaxed.

But before he got a chance to reply, a man clad in formal work suit approached, frowning slightly in worry. "Mr. Vargas, there you are. I was sent to find and fetch you. Let us go back to the office."

"Ve… I was gone for only several minutes," Feliciano pouted, and just like that the mature and knowing air around him melted and he was an ordinary young man again. "And it's today too, of all day. Boss is so stern."

The suited man sighed and replied. "He understands that it's today, but you have duty too, Mr. Vargas. And an important one at that. He can't just let your brother do it."

At that, the young man's expression darkened. "And why is that?"

The suited man flinched and shifted uncomfortably. "I apologize for my rudeness, Mr. Vargas. Please just forget what I said about boss."

Saying nothing to the shrinking man before him, he turned to face Jean again, his expression lightened slightly as he smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go now. It was nice to meet you, Jean!" He gave him a brighter smile and waved before turning around and walking to a black car waiting for him outside the square, the suited man following him awkwardly behind.

Jean Cloche watched the pair for a moment longer before leaving himself. And it was only late that night that he realized. He hadn't told the young man his name.

-o-

To be honest, he didn't want to come this year, not after the Venice incident. Not after he had let Giacomo Dante slip away from his grasp. Not after he hadn't even had the chance to fire a single bullet at the man who had killed his family, who had killed _Sophia_.

But it was like a ritual, and he couldn't find the reason as to why he wouldn't visit this year. And it was rare too that Jose wanted to go with him. So he told his brother to get into his car and drove them to the graveyard in silence.

Jean had expected to see Fernando again this year, but much to his surprise, no one was there. There indeed were bouquet of flowers on Sophia's tomb though. He frowned slightly when he spotted similar bouquets on his parents and his sister's tombs. He hadn't expected anyone beside them, the only survivors of the Cloche family, to visit.

"Someone was here before us," Jose stated, his voice held the barest hint of confusion. Jean nodded without saying a word, putting down the bouquet on Sophia's tomb as his brother put down another one on their family's.

They stood there in silence, not an awkward one, but not a comfortable one either. For Jean's part, he couldn't say anything to Sophia this time. Because they had failed, again. Failed and let Giacomo ran away, killing two of their cyborgs and laughing at them.

With Angelica, Sylvia, and Beatrice gone, and Claes was of no use for combat, it seemed for him that they lacked the force they needed to battle against Giacomo. They would need more cyborgs, more assassination machines.

He thought back of Rico, how the young girl stated that she didn't feel anything when Angelica died, and a small part of him felt cruelly satisfied. Because that was how his cyborg should be, free of burdening feeling, focused only in fulfilling her purpose in this world : be his tool for vengeance against Giacomo.

-o-

When they arrived at the square, it was already afternoon. The sky was painted red and orange, and the crowd had somehow dissipated. But then Jean spotted a figure standing before the Cloche Incident monument, someone who seemed strangely familiar.

The figure turned around when they approached, and the familiar feeling grew stronger. It was a young man, looked like between 20 and 25 in age, dark brown hair and hazel golden eyes. A light scowl was set on his face, one that slowly dissipated as he saw them. They walked past him and he turned back to face the monument.

The silence between them was thick but wasn't uncomfortable as both Cloche brothers and the stranger stood side by side in comfortable distance, facing the monument. It was then that Jose spoke.

"Pardon me, but do I know you?" He addressed the young man beside them, scrutinizing him lightly with his healthy eye as the figure turned his head to face him.

"No," The stranger replied curtly, before his expression turned slightly guilty and he added, "Sorry."

"It's alright. I should be the one apologizing." Jose gave him a polite nod. "I'm sorry for asking you such an abrupt question."

The young man hummed softly in response before he turned to face the monument again. They stood in silence for another several minutes until Jose's cellphone rang and he walked away to answer it. Almost at the same time, a man in formal work suit approached them, looked tired and slightly sweating. Turning to the dark haired stranger, he said, "Mr. Vargas, boss wants you back in the office right now. He said the work should be finished by tomorrow and I was given the order to watch over you until you finish."

The said young man scowled. "Tch, that dumbass of a boss…" The suited man before him looked slightly apologetic, before he was sent off to the black car waiting outside of the square with a "I'll be there. Just give me a moment."

The stranger turned to Jean, his expression unreadable. "I know it won't do any good saying this. The dead won't come back, and it won't relive the pain, but…"

His voice was soft and genuine when he said, "I'm sorry for your father, for your mother, for your sister, and for your fiancée."

With that, he turned and walked away. Jean watched him as his back retreated farther to the car, but then he turned around and said, loud enough for him to hear.

"My brother said to give you and your brother his best regards."

-o-

He visited again in the same year. Bandaged everywhere like a mummy and limping on crutches, he had told Rico to wait for him in the car.

He was by himself again this time.

No Sophia.

No Enrica.

No Jose.

But he wasn't entirely alone.

Rico was there. And she had promised him she would always be.

He wondered why he wasn't surprised when he saw two figures in front of the monument, even though it was nearing evening and the sky was darkening. He limped closer, his steps were steady. And he knew that they knew he was there. Both figures turned around.

Identical faces, similar hazel golden eyes, two young men who looked strangely familiar, but now he knew the reason.

"Mr. Vargas," He said politely, addressing both of them.

"Ve, good evening, Jean," Feliciano replied softly, his hazel eyes glinted knowingly in the dim evening. "We meet again."

He nodded before stopping beside them in front of the monument. "You seem well."

"Not really," The younger twin looked at him, eyes concerned as a wistful light smile tugged his lips. But the smile didn't stay long. "You were almost dead, you lost so many comrades," He bit his lower lip. "You lost your brother."

Jean didn't understand why Feliciano talked about him when he was the one being asked about his condition, didn't know how the young man could possibly know about all that, didn't understand why both Feliciano and his brother looked tired and older.

"_There's no more battle to be fought. There's not even anyone to argue with. You lost Jose as well, right?"_

He realized it bitterly. All of those battles, those killing, those sacrifice, they had all come to an end. And even though Giacomo was now in prison, even though he had avenged his family, he had lost his brother as well. And Jean felt the hollow emptiness started to deepen inside him.

"You'll be alright," He was snapped back to reality with those words, spoken softly and understandingly, and he lifted his head to lock eyes with Feliciano. The younger man smiled softly to him. "You're not alone in this. Rico is with you, isn't she?"

And he remembered the girl sitting inside his car, innocent but not, still pure but not, smiles and knowing eyes and unexpected maturity, fear and concern in those eyes when he woke up in the hospital.

And loyalty, pure and genuine loyalty, even though it was caused by the conditioning. All of a sudden, it didn't feel as painful and heavy as before to him. Jean felt himself loosen a bit.

But before too long, a man in work suit approached them, again like in those previous times. An annoyed look settled on the older twin's face and Feliciano pouted. He waved the suited man off with a nod.

"We have to go now," He said sadly, a disappointed look nestled on his face. "Sorry, Jean. We never had the chance to chat, had we?" It was strange, really. Because he never addressed Feliciano with his first name, but the other always called him with his and talked to him like they had known each other longer than they actually had.

"It's alright." For some reason, he was sure that they would meet again, at the same place, in the same date every year.

"Oh, and this is my brother, ve!" Feliciano had brightened up, leaving no trail of his dark mood earlier. "_Fratello_, this is Jean Cloche. Come on, say hello."

"I know him. You don't have to tell me, idiot." The older twin frowned at him, before turning to look at the man before him. "Name's Lovino Vargas." He nodded curtly at him. "We met that time, after the Venice Incident, in case you don't remember." He spoke of it with bitterness and anger unmasked, and Jean didn't blame him for it.

"I didn't know you two know each other," Feliciano tugged on his brother's arm, face curious. "Ve… You didn't tell me about it, _fratello_."

"Moron. You were the one who asked me to give them your best regard," Lovino scoffed at him. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten about it."

"Did I?" Feliciano frowned slightly, recalling. His brother let out an exasperated sigh and flicked him on the forehead. "Forget it. Now let's go back before that jerk of a boss start yelling at us."

Feliciano giggled. "Ve… Alright, alright." He turned to Jean and smiled to him, brighter than any of the smile he'd shown that day. "See you next time, Jean!" With that, he circled his arms around his brother's and started dragging him back to the car with him. But before they got too far, the older Italian paused and turned back to Jean. He looked like he was about to say something, but then shook his head and followed his brother back to the car.

-o-

It was 10 years later that he met them again, in the same date of the year, at the same place. He never expected them to even look the same, as if they hadn't aged a day since all those years ago.

Same brown hair, same hazel eyes, same youthful feature.

Feliciano's smile and Lovino's frown stayed the same.

Like they were frozen in time, they stayed the same.

As for he himself, he had grown more facial hair, his eyes had turned more knowing and he had grown calmer and wiser. He was in his thirties now. Still lacking emotions but had grown gentler. All that thanks to a certain little girl, a certain cyborg.

They didn't talk much this time, only exchanging news about how they had been doing. He wanted to ask, but felt his tongue tied. So he stayed silent.

And then the black car and the man in formal work suit came, just like all those years ago, and just like 10 years ago he was waved off before he arrived, and the twins had to bid him farewell.

But the farewell this time was different. Feliciano didn't wave. He smiled, but it wasn't a bright or innocent one. It was a calm one. Calm and grateful. And beside him, Lovino's frown had softened into a serious expression.

"Ve… Jean, we might not meet again after this." Feliciano started, shifting slightly. "That's why this is a goodbye."

"What we want to say is…" Lovino paused slightly, glancing at his brother. Feliciano gave him a soft smile and nodded.

"In the name of the Republic of Italy, we'd like to give you our greatest gratitude." His voice was smooth and firm, thankful and unwavering. And then, much to the older man's surprise, he smiled, slow and warm. "Me and my brother, we are very thankful for what you, your brother, your father, and your comrades had done to both of us."

"We're really sorry that we can do nothing to repay you for what you've done," Feliciano said softly. "We can't give you back what you've lost. We can't guarantee you a future without pain," He reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "All we can give you is a promise that whatever happens, we won't back down. Not after what you and everyone had done for us. We won't let the same ever happen again." Releasing his hand, he added softly, almost inaudible. "We will never let anything separate us ever again."

And then, as the morning breeze blew softly and the gulls cried above them, the twins gave him one last smile before they turned and walked away to the black car awaiting them.

* * *

**Explanation regarding Gunslinger Girl :**

**Jean Cloche** and his brother **Jose (Giose) Cloche** are the only survivors of Cloche Incident. They survived because they weren't aboard the car.

**Padania **(also known as **The Five Republic**) is a terrorist organization that wishes for the freedom of the North from the South, and for that they get support from Northern Italy people. Padania proposes the idea of federal nation, consisting of North Italy, Center of Italy, South of Italian Peninsula, Sicily, and Sardinia. They are the main enemy of government organization SWA where the main characters are employed.

**- The first segment (The funeral part) :** It was the funeral for the victims of Cloche Affair (or Cloche Incident) where the car in which prosecutor Cloche's family were aboard was destroyed with a roadside bomb set by **Giacomo Dante** of the terrorist **Padania** organization. All of those who were inside the car were killed, them being Giovanni and Carla Cloche, their daughter **Enrica Cloche**, and their eldest son's fiancee **Sophia Durante**. The car was bombed on its way from Rome to Napple, that's why Romano was the one most affected by that.

**- The second segment : **Fernando is Sophia's younger brother. In the manga, he punched Jean, accusing him of running away instead of avenging Sophia's death. A side note : Sophia was a Sicilian.

**- The third segment (meeting Feliciano) **: Roberta Guelfi who was mentioned here is some kind of an inheritor of **Giovanni Cloche**'s spirit in fighting against Padania via law. She did visit the monument in vol 7.

**- The fourth and fifth segment (meeting Romano) **: it was set after one event in the manga : The Venice Incident. The incident itself was shown and explained in vol 11 of the manga. The short explanation of it is, it was the first showdown between Giacomo Dante and the government. Like it was said in this segment, the Social Welfare Agency in which Jean was working at lost 2 of their cyborgs. And as it is obvious from the title of the event, it happened in Venice. So the reason why Feliciano didn't come that time is because his condition was poor from the incident. I can't explain much about the incident itself since it would cause confusion to those who don't read Gunslinger Girl, so if you like political manga with guns and slight science, please read it. It's worth the read :)

**- The sixth segment : **set after the New Turin Nuclear Power Plant Incident, the second and last showdown between Giacomo and the Italian government in the manga. Jose (Giose) died in the incident. Jean was alive though, thanks to his ward cyborg **Rico**.

**- The last segment : **set in the last chapter of Gunslinger Girl. Jean wasn't shown visit the monument in the manga. I made the event myself :) But the hint about Rico is indeed there in the manga.

**There! *phew* I guess no one would want to read this long explanation though.**

**Constructive critics are always welcomed, but please no flame (I've said above that I apologize for any historical inaccuracies).  
**

**Thank you for reading!  
**


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